Ecotherapy Research

There's so much research on the benefits of nature for
mental health that it's difficult to summarize. This is a selective overview,
but I'd be glad to send you a more detailed review if you're interested.
I'll look at three areas of research:

It's now well established that nature can decrease stress
levels and promote stress recovery. Nature can also buffer us against
the negative impact of stress: Several decades of evidence suggests that
spending time in nature can lower pulse rates, reduce cortisol levels,
and improve immune functioning.

Vitality - the feeling of being fully alive and energized - appears
to be enhanced by being in nature. A study in the Journal of Environmental
Psychology showed that spending just 20 minutes outside every day
could boost energy. Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University
of Rochester, commented that "people with a greater sense of vitality
don't just have more energy for things they want to do, they are also
more resilient to physical illnesses".

There's good evidence that spending time in nature can improve
your self-esteem and enhance your sense of personal autonomy - your ability
to freely choose your actions and express your authentic self. These are key factors in our overall mental
health. Nature connection can also catalyse feelings of awe, inspiration and a sense of connection to a greater
whole.

Counselling and psychotherapy outdoors

There's not much research that looks specifically at
counselling and psychotherapy outdoors. However, what we know so far suggests
that therapy in nature will be beneficial in most cases.

Several studies have shown that being in nature boosts positive
emotions and the ability to reflect on life problems.

Research suggests that it's easier to be with difficult emotions like
loneliness, isolation, and anxiety when we're in a natural environment.

A review of the current research concluded that a "small
but reliable evidence base supports the effectiveness and appropriateness
of nature-assisted therapy" and found there there were "significant improvements
... in diverse diagnoses" (Annerstedt & Wahrborg, 2011).

Help with specific mental health issues

Depression

Spending time in nature counters the tendency to withdraw, reduces rumination - the habit of endlessly going over worries -
and improves your overall mood. A recent study published by the mental
health charity MIND found that a walk in nature reduced depression in
over 70% of participants. Researchers compared the effect with a group
who took walk in a shopping centre. Only 45% of those on the shopping
center walk had reduced depression scores, while 22% of them actually
felt worse (Berman et al).

ADHD

Numerous studies have found that spending time in nature
reduces the symptoms of ADHD in children. Scientists at at the University
of Illinois found that a twenty minute walk in the woods improves ADHD
in children better than any of the available drugs. "Overall, our findings
indicate that exposure to ordinary natural settings in the course of common
after-school and weekend activities may be widely effective in reducing
attention deficit symptoms in children" (Kuo and Faber, 2004) Sadly children
tend to spend much less time in nature today and Richard Louv concludes
that ADHD is a symptom of what he calls 'nature deficit disorder' (2008).

Kuo, F. and Faber, A. (2004). A Potential Natural Treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder: Evidence From a National Study. American Journal of Public
Health. 2004 Sep; 94 (9): 1580-6. University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign.

Louv, R (2008). Last Child in the Woods: Saving our children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder. New York: Algonquin Books.